{"id":1203564572,"date":"2023-12-05T18:32:12","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T23:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/footwearnews.com\/?p=1203564572"},"modified":"2023-12-05T18:40:26","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T23:40:26","slug":"kenneth-cole-launches-wellbeing-at-work-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/footwearnews.com\/business\/business-news\/kenneth-cole-launches-wellbeing-at-work-day-1203564572\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenneth Cole, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Katie Couric & More Help Launch Inaugural Wellbeing at Work Day"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Business leaders from across NYC came together at Kenneth Cole\u2019s Chelsea headquarters on Tuesday morning to kick-off the inaugural Wellbeing at Work Day, a citywide initiative aimed at changing the culture around mental wellness at work.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI believe that the mental health crisis is both the oldest and the newest pandemic,\u201d Cole added. \u201cOne in four people will deal with a mental health condition during their lives, which is safe to say that we all know someone in our family, community or workplace that will be affected. So, we are all in some way struggling with this crisis. What makes it so overwhelming is that two thirds of those who suffer, do so in the proverbial shadows because they don\u2019t have access to resources, and they don\u2019t have the tools to address their struggles.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The fashion designer and founder of The Mental Health Coalition<\/a> added that anxiety and depression is the leading cause of absenteeism in the workplace. What\u2019s more, Cole noted that 12 billion workdays, and over $1 trillion, are lost every year because of mental health complications.<\/p>\n

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As such, Cole and organizations like One Mind at Work, NAMI, Mental Health America, and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation have come together to launch this new awareness day.<\/p>\n

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\"Katie
Katie Couric emceed Tuesday’s event. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Through this initiative, businesses and employers are encouraged to take the Wellbeing at Work Pledge, a commitment to create a supportive workplace for mental health<\/a>. Included with that commitment, business leaders are asked to institute best practices for mental health in the workplace, as recommended by One Mind at Work, an expert on workplace mental health.<\/p>\n

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Going forward, these leaders will honor the first Tuesday of December every year as the official Wellbeing at Work Day.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat makes this initiative so meaningful, is that the workplace is the only place where traditional, operational resources – human, administrative, and financial – can be efficiently leveraged to transform the health and wellbeing of large populations and their families,\u201d said Cole. \u201cIf we all do this together, we will change culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Deepak
Deepak Chopra led the crowd in a mindful meditation during Tuesday’s event. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Emceed by Katie Couric, Cole enlisted NYC Mayor Eric Adams, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan, Dr. Deepak Chopra and singer and songwriter Em Beihold to help unveil the new initiative at Tuesday’s event.<\/p>\n

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Couric, who opened the event with her remarks, praised the awareness day<\/a> for helping to end the stigma of mental health in the workplace.<\/p>\n

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As for Mayor Adams, he spoke about his own mental health journey while highlighting all that the City of New York is doing to help its citizens. \u201cI remember sitting in my kitchen after 22 years in law enforcement and my son asking me if I was okay,\u201d Adams recalled. \u201cAnd I remember the tears running down my face. Because the reality of the fast pace of policing and being part of an organization like the police department, and never really taking a moment to reflect on the dangerous moments we encounter was overwhelming. And coming to the realization that I was broken in so many places, so many pieces, and self-medicating myself with things in items of different forms. But the reality was that I needed help.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Eric
NYC Mayor Eric Adams spoke about his own mental health journey at Tuesday’s event. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u201cThat help often eludes us, especially in communities of color where we\u2019re taught to \u2018suck it up,\u2019\u201d Adams added. \u201cAny sign of saying you need help was a sign of weakness, and we could not afford to display weakness. But as I sat there with my son, I realized I wanted to see him walk down the aisle, I wanted to play with my grandchildren, I wanted to see him buy his first home and graduate from college. This became my motivator that I need to make sure I put the pieces together.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Mayor went on to add that New Yorkers are living through “unprecedented change and overwhelming challenges,” in large part due to a mental health crisis. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThe impact of mental health on corporate morale is undeniable, and by partnering with business leaders across New York City to prioritize wellbeing at work, we can inspire a genuine culture shift and challenge the status quo,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n

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The new awareness day is a part of a citywide initiative aimed at changing the culture around mental wellness at work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190673879,"featured_media":1203564541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"authors":[],"contributors":[],"styled_by":[],"_image_credit":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","pmc_selected_wwd_video_media":"","pmc_top_video_source":"","pmc_top_video_duration":"","wwd_top_video_source":"","wwd_top_video_duration":"","pmc_selected_featured_media":"","pmc_selected_video_media":"","pmc_selected_variety_video_media":"","variety_top_video_source":"","variety_top_video_duration":"","pmc_featured_media_has_alt_text":true,"_pmc_featured_animated_media_id":0,"_pmc_featured_video_override_data":"","_pmc_featured_video_override_url":"","pmc-gallery-linked-gallery":{},"pmc_list_item_description":"","primary_category":"","primary_vertical":"","_mt_pmc_exclude_from_seo":"","pmc-gallery":[],"categories":0,"subcategories":0,"mt_seo_title":"Kenneth Cole, NYC Mayor Eric Adams Help Launch Wellbeing at Work Day","mt_seo_description":"Kenneth Cole, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Katie Couric and more business leaders came out on Tuesday to kick-off the inaugural Wellbeing at Work Day.","mt_pmc_exclude_from_seo":"off","_pmc_canonical_override":"","instant_articles_should_submit_post":false,"_sailthru_selected_alerts":[],"_sailthru_send_override":false,"_sailthru_alert_subject":"","_sailthru_breaking_news_meta_data":[],"experimental_features_inline_styles":"","linked_video_id":"","pmc_hubs_hide_header":false,"override_post_title":"","override_post_excerpt":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-12-05T23:32:35Z","apple_news_api_id":"a3b3b5a8-9d9b-46b9-bad0-bb2e92f20df0","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-12-05T23:40:38Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ao7O1qJ2bRrm60LsukvIN8A","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"[]","_pmc_automated_related_links":{"settings":{"module_name":"Related","hide_box":0},"data":[{"url":"","id":"","title":"","automated":true},{"url":"","id":"","title":"","automated":true},{"url":"","id":"","title":"","automated":true}]},"overlay_text_placement":[],"overlay_text_one":[],"overlay_text_two":[],"kicker_meta_block_field":[],"_pmc_kicker":[],"pmc_multiple_products_title":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[179,378251816],"tags":[378239942,378249054,378251146],"post_format":[],"_post-options":[],"pmc_ads_suppression":[],"editorial":[378246937,378246939],"ep_custom_result":[],"coauthors":[378249663],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Kenneth Cole, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Katie Couric & More Help Launch Inaugural Wellbeing at Work Day","url":"http:\/\/footwearnews.com\/business\/business-news\/kenneth-cole-launches-wellbeing-at-work-day-1203564572\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/footwearnews.com\/business\/business-news\/kenneth-cole-launches-wellbeing-at-work-day-1203564572\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/footwearnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/WellbeingAtWorkKenneth.jpg?w=150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/footwearnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/WellbeingAtWorkKenneth.jpg"},"articleSection":"Business News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephen Garner"}],"creator":["Stephen Garner"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Footwear News","logo":"https:\/\/footwearnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/cropped-fn_favicon2.png"},"keywords":["kenneth cole","mental health","workers","business","business news","daily headlines","two column \u2013 daily"],"dateCreated":"2023-12-05T23:32:12Z","datePublished":"2023-12-05T23:32:12Z","dateModified":"2023-12-05T23:40:26Z","pmc-gallery-linked-gallery":{}},"rendered":"